The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A well-known businessman yesterday backed legalising gambling for Bahamians, suggesting numbers operators be taxed at “a reasonable” 20 per cent rate as he told Tribune Business: “We have no choice.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president, said he supported legalising the numbers business because the only alternative would be a “return to the status quo”, where a small number of web shop operators earned millions of dollars “at the expense of the population at large”.

Acknowledging that gambling, like alcohol and tobacco, was a vice and should therefore be taxed, Mr D’Aguilar said the revenue raised could be redistributed back to benefit lower and middle income Bahamians via spending on areas such as education and health.

With the numbers industry arguably the largest sector of the Bahamian economy that contributes zero to the Public Treasury, the Superwash head indicated that with the national debt approaching $5 billion, and the Government currently facing a $550 million fiscal deficit, it had no choice but to be “aggressive” in pursuing all revenue options open to it in closing these holes.

However, Mr D’Aguilar, a former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce president, suggested that the Christie administration drop its proposed referendum in favour of a simple Parliamentary vote on whether to legalise gambling.

Arguing that he was “sure” MPs would approve legalising gambling in a straightforward vote, Mr D’Aguilar expressed fears that the referendum would result in a ‘no’ vote because “no one’s fighting” in favour of it.

“I do support the legalising of gambling for no other reason than there is no credible plan, no realistic plan, to address the issue if the electorate does turn it down,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business.

“It will be back to the status quo, with a very small group of people getting extremely wealthy at the expense of the population at large.”

The numbers business is dominated by a relatively small number of operators - the FML Group of Companies, Island Luck, Asue Draw and Island Game. Along with security companies and debt collection agencies, the sector has arguably been one of the few major growth areas of the Bahamian economy during the recent recession, and the operators have already formed themselves into the ‘We Care’ coalition to press for the legalisation of their industry.

Urging Bahamians to set aside emotions and passions when it came to the gambling issue, Mr D’Aguilar said: “We have to be realistic. There’s the reality issue.

“There’s the ‘I don’t believe in this’, there’s the philosophical issue. But whether I agree or don’t agree with gambling, I always come back to the fact that if you’re opposed to it, on whatever grounds, and the referendum is shut down - then what?

“Because there is no political will or resources around to stamp it out. You’re back to the status quo. I don’t know what these religious people think the Government is going to do. With the age of the Internet, it is impossible for the Government to stamp this out.”

He added: “It’s not offensive to me, I don’t do it myself, but I would rather control it, regulate it and tax it than ignore it.”

Questioning why the Bahamas thought itself different from the likes of the US, UK and other developed countries, all of whom had legalised gambling and established formal lotteries, Mr D’Aguilar said it was important to redistribute some of the sector’s proceeds to benefit Bahamian society as a whole.

“Gambling unnecessarily or unfairly taxes the poor,” he told Tribune Business. “It is having a detrimental effect on lower and lower middle income people, as opposed to upper income people. One of the ways you mitigate that inequality is to tax it and return it to the very people it is hurting.”

By taxing the numbers business, Mr D’Aguilar said the Government could potentially generate millions of dollars in extra revenues that could fund areas such as education, health, sports and social welfare programmes.

Pointing out that numbers operators gave every indication of “wanting to operate in the sunlight”, the former Chamber president said “at least” a 20 per cent rate imposed on their profits would seemingly be “a reasonable tax burden”.

“There are definitely some benefits that arise for a part of the Government’s Budget,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “They’re very quickly reaching the limits of their capacity to borrow. They’ve got to be aggressive in pursuing every single revenue source we have.

“If I was the Government, I would not take it to a referendum. Instead, I would engage in a Parliamentary vote of conscience and I’m sure they would pass it.

“No one’s fighting in favour of it, and a lot of people are fighting against it. The people in the business can’t come out and support it, and the churches and their members are vehemently against it. If you think the power of the pulpit is significant, there’s a real danger this will be shut down. Then you’ll never deal with it.”

Mr D’Aguilar added: “The Government should put it’s stamp on it. I guarantee the PLP that if they were to pass it, at the end of the day no one in 2017 is going to remember and vote against them because of they enacted it. I guarantee them. You’ve got four years to build your base back up.”

Recalling his tenure as Chamber president, Mr D’Aguilar said the organisation was approached by several companies interested in winning contracts to run a Bahamian national lottery.

He described as “one of the selling points” plans these companies had to restrict how much Bahamians could gamble, via electronic strips attached to the backs of drivers’ licences.

Besides, noting the economic contribution the numbers industry made to the Bahamas in terms of jobs, NIB contributions and rental payments, Mr D’Aguilar said a ‘no’ to legalising gambling could have a significant impact moving forward.

“We’ve got to be realistic, get on with it. This [legalising gambling for Bahamians] is a non-issue,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business.

“We’ve got a lot more pressing issues to deal with. Government needs to expand ways of raising revenue, and this is the way. I support it. I think we have no choice. We can vote against it, then what?

“I’m a realist. I don’t think we have a choice. It’s [numbers] too entrenched. There’s a lot more people in this country that gamble than smoke dope and do drugs.

“And it’s widely and generally accepted throughout the world that this is a reasonable way to raise revenue for the Government.”